On Tuesday morning, the first Leader of the UDP, Dean Lindo, appeared on the UDP?s WAVE radio station on the station?s morning show. I caught Mr. Lindo?s conversation some time after it had started, so I was never really sure whether he had come to WAVE in connection with the UDP anniversary, or whether the purpose of his visit was to give personal support to Dr. George Gough, the new UDP candidate for the Fort George constituency, who was endorsed by a divisional convention held this Sunday, September 25. (Mr. Lindo beat the incumbent in Fort George, Rt. Hon. Said Musa, in 1974 and 1984. Mr. Musa beat him in 1979 and 1989. In 1969, the then PUP incumbent, the late Sir Alexander Hunter, had beaten Mr. Lindo, who ran on an NIPDM slate at the time.)

Whatever may have been the case, the subject of the 32nd anniversary did come up, but it became clear later in the day that the present day leadership of the UDP had not paid any special attention to the anniversary.

The ruling PUP, for their part, have exploited their history and the reputation of their past Leader, Right Hon. George C. Price, on occasions such as their annual anniversaries, for present day propaganda purposes. This present day PUP is the ideological opposite of the People?s United Party founded on September 29, 1950. The present day PUP is controlled by oligarchs and cronies, while the 1950 PUP was founded on trade unions and the workers of Belize.

There is something I remember vividly from my childhood. The way I figure it, what I saw must have been the PUP victory march after the 1954 national elections, the first under universal adult suffrage. I know that my parents moved from Church Street to the corner of Regent Street West and West Canal when I was 7 years old, and I was born in 1947. So you see why I?m making such a connection.

I remember that as that march entered Bolton Bridge coming down Regent Street West from the direction of the Swing Bridge, the marchers were packed tight together. Most of those leading the march were men ? strong men, roots men. A waterfront worker I later found out to be named ?Lizan Grey?, carried a large United States of America stars and stripes flag. (Other marchers, of course, carried PUP flags.)

There was an incredible intensity in that 1954 election, because the very first PUP Leader, Johnny Smith, had broken under the pressure from the British, and betrayed the party. Johnny Smith turned around and ran against the PUP general secretary, George Price, in the Freetown area. (The Freetown area was called ?Belize North? at the time. Smith was badly beaten.) More intensity derived from the fact that the PUP Leader, Leigh Richardson, and a high ranking party official, Philip Goldson, had served nine months in jail in 1951 on a flimsy sedition charge concocted by the British. The Belizean people in 1954 were a heroic people. I don?t think this 2005 PUP is about the people any more. Today?s PUP is about the big money, crazy money.

The PUP has lasted this long because the foundation in 1950 was rock – the working class and the peasants of Belize. The UDP foundation in 1973 was basically middle class and merchant class. When the UDP finally won in 1984, it was because second generation PUP?s had turned against the blue. But the 1984-1989 UDP did not consolidate that alliance, and the second generation PUP?s went home to the PUP in 1989.

The UDP victory of 1993 is the most confusing election result in Belize?s modern political history. There was a bull in the PUP china shop who mashed up Collet and Caribbean Shores to ensure his own victory in Central. The PUP received 2,000 more votes than the UDP, and yet lost in seats, by the margin of Collet and Caribbean Shores.

The UDP, not expecting to win, proceeded to run the most vindictive administration in our history. Between 1993 and 1998, the UDP laid the groundwork for the PUP successes we saw in 1998 and 2003.

The 2005 problem for the UDP, because of their inherent class prejudice, is that they can?t quite concede that it is second and third generation PUP?s who would have to put them over the hump in 2008. If the UDP remain self-absorbed, then the PUP may right their ship.

Personally, I think it?s time for a third millennium organization. But you know me. I?m always outside the mainstream. Peace and love.